ZVex anyone?

[minimoog56]

My Fuzz Factory from 1996 is going nowhere - it is the most flexible and scariest radical fuzz of them all. I have had the Death by Audio Super Fuzz Gun and the Durham Crazy horse, the LAL Super Oscillo fuzz and others. By far the Zvex is one of the most flexible, repeatable and extreme art noise pedals out there. Amazing that the design is over 12 years old and still sets the avant-fuzz mark. There are a bout 8+ different fuzz flavors in this pedal and all points in between. The criticism about the lack of repeatability is just a factor of how many knobs it has and the interactivity of these features. Also unlike many fuzzes this is a pedal where the magic is in the first quarter to half turns of the drive and loudness knobs. There is a lot of nuance in the pots and I think a lot of guys get it and just dime it right off the bat on all settings. That will just get you a white noise mush...

Regarding the small enclosure, the little box is the Zvex signature/brand and it has clearly worked to establish Zvex in a sea of competitors. It is also a cool exercise in how much stuff can be packed into a small enclosure. The box is pretty bomb-proof (David used it for the custom titty fuzz last week!) and so compact it takes up negative space in my very compact board. i have my F-F stacked under an Oohwah II and the two effects take up about 4 inches squared of very useful sound modulation capability - Hendrix/Kevin Shields in 16 square inches. My only gripe is the lack of a 9 volt input and that you have to pay another $35 for a back plate to power brick the pedal at an already expensive price point.

Zvex himself is a bit of a nutter but that is his schtick and it helps him sell his pedals....

Regarding Gearpage - I just stick to the Emporium where I must admit i always get the best deals. Gearpage is eclipsing Ebay as the place to go for great gear that some doctor or lawyer picked up, fiddled around with, and is dumping at well below cost when he gets bored with it. I find discontinued small builder stuff from BJFE, Empress, Cusack, Frostwave, etc. at 20% or better less than what i would pay for the same peals on Ebay. I also find that the quick rotation of Gearpage listings and daily bump limitations buries great gear a page or 2 down. no waiting 7 days and hoping my snipe is faster than the other guy and my high price is enough. I admit to low-balling (within reason) price sometimes but it is a free market and if you don't ask you will not get the bargain you are after. Also, once a deal is finalized I have always followed through on Gearpage and I have never been burned through the Paypal verified sellers process.

[markom89]

hey man, that's awsome!
would you mind posting a photo of your '96? I'd love to see how it looks both outside and inside, if you don't mind!
it's indeed a great sounding pedal, the fuzz factory, and what I love is that each one sounds a tiny bit different (some more drastically different than others)...

[the_original_mr_nice]

it's indeed a great sounding pedal, the fuzz factory, and what I love is that each one sounds a tiny bit different (some more drastically different than others)...

Mine's a silver sparkle with some chips in the paintwork (no pix at the moment) and it sounds sparkly and silvery with a few fuzzy squeals due to the dents in its silver sparkliness. Not a easy effect to control (other fuzz factorys that I've tested were more polite !) but that adds to its charm and randomness :-D

[mezcalhead]

Yeah, I like the FF, had mine a few years now and never run into anything that could fill its niche.

I like the new design on the Loop Junky .. something about the silly little syringe on the old design really annoyed me.

Anyway, my Zvexes:

[grygrx]

[NewarkWilder]

I actually just got my first Zvex pedal today, a Wah Probe. Gonna be on the lookout for a Bennet FF too. I love her art. My Fingerprint is one of my favorite pedals, and I have a great original painting she did. love

[muffin man]

Got myself a fuzz factory last year, i found it hard to get used to and it took me a while to find the setting i liked,
but when you suss the controls it,s a beast.
with mine if you roll the volume off on your guitar it gets really trebley though.
good dirty fun though.

[kb892]

with mine if you roll the volume off on your guitar it gets really trebley though.

Thats one the things I really love about it! You can play this wheezy slinky sorta dying rhythm and then roll your volume back up and knock folks off their chairs! Some settings work better than others but I remember writing down a bunch that were really extreme for that trick... where the heck did I put that pad of paper?

[JP30]

The SHO works great with fuzz pedals. I use my Super Duper with fuzz a lot and it is basicaly the same pedal.
The other pedal I use with fuzz boxes is my Sonic Titan and after seeing the Captains recent custom build I would say I am not the only one.

I been using my Sonik Titan too, but It s really nice as stand alone box too.
So, Clean boost may be a cool thing to try out.

talking to myself (I saw Graham posting his CS booster... they look nice too...
used Zvex SHO are not too expensive, may be I will try it.
I think Mint-T had his for sale... nice spakling one... )

My Fuzz Factory from 1996 is going nowhere - it is the most flexible and scariest radical fuzz of them all. I have had the Death by Audio Super Fuzz Gun and the Durham Crazy horse, the LAL Super Oscillo fuzz and others. By far the Zvex is one of the most flexible, repeatable and extreme art noise pedals out there. Amazing that the design is over 12 years old and still sets the avant-fuzz mark. There are a bout 8+ different fuzz flavors in this pedal and all points in between. The criticism about the lack of repeatability is just a factor of how many knobs it has and the interactivity of these features. Also unlike many fuzzes this is a pedal where the magic is in the first quarter to half turns of the drive and loudness knobs. There is a lot of nuance in the pots and I think a lot of guys get it and just dime it right off the bat on all settings. That will just get you a white noise mush...

Regarding Gearpage - I just stick to the Emporium where I must admit i always get the best deals. Gearpage is eclipsing Ebay as the place to go for great gear that some doctor or lawyer picked up, fiddled around with, and is dumping at well below cost when he gets bored with it. I find discontinued small builder stuff from BJFE, Empress, Cusack, Frostwave, etc. at 20% or better less than what i would pay for the same peals on Ebay. I also find that the quick rotation of Gearpage listings and daily bump limitations buries great gear a page or 2 down. no waiting 7 days and hoping my snipe is faster than the other guy and my high price is enough. I admit to low-balling (within reason) price sometimes but it is a free market and if you don't ask you will not get the bargain you are after. That is how I picked up my '56 refinned Telecaster and my '55 Bassmanfor afraction of their blue book costs -by being patient, lucky and knowing what I was after. Also, once a deal is finalized I have always followed through on Gearpage and I have never been burned through the Paypal verified sellers process.

May be I need to learn how to buy and sell pedals from minimoog. I really suck.
Nice review... I will try FF.

Anyway, thank you for starting this thread, I have to live off of Ramen noodle a while longer now...

[markom89]

I so want that lawsuit factory...